Beef off the menu at 850 schools

Employee Irmgard Hess takes a sample of a beef curry meal in the food control laboratory institute Eurofins in Ebersberg, eastward of Munich February 18, 2013. The samples of minced meat are tested for the presence of horse meat as a precaution. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle (GERMANY - Tags: AGRICULTURE BUSINESS FOOD POLITICS) Beef

Beef dishes have been pulled off the menu at 850 schools pending tests for horsemeat.

Catering firm Eden Foodservice, one of the biggest suppliers to nurseries, primary and secondary schools said it was withdrawing six dishes until the results are known.

The range taken off sale includes beef burgers, sausage rolls, salami, pasta dishes and sliced roast beef. The company said it was “confident” there was no contamination but wanted to be sure. Tests have already shown no horse in its Cornish pasties.

Nestle is the latest food company to be hit by the horsemeat scandal after traces were found in beef pasta meals from shelves in Italy and Spain.

The Swiss-based firm, one of the world’s largest food companies, declared just a week ago that products under its labels were not affected.

It withdrew two chilled pasta products - Buitoni Beef Ravioli and Beef Tortellini - in Spain and a frozen lasagne sold to catering firms in France.

“We are now suspending deliveries of all our finished products produced using beef supplied by a German firm, H.J. Schypke,” it said in a statement.

“We want to apologise to consumers and reassure them that the actions being taken to deal with this issue will result in higher standards and enhanced traceability.”

Chancellor George Osborne said supermarkets and caterers were responsible for the integrity of food on the shelves. He encouraged consumers to choose British beef instead of processed food, telling ITV’s The Agenda: “I think lots of people have been surprised that what you buy in your British supermarket comes from a Romanian abattoir, packaged in Luxembourg. I don’t think people realised how international the food business was.

“I guess just eating British beef might be the solution to this problem.”

Tests results on around 950 products will be revealed by the Food Standards Agency on Friday.

The head of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said laboratories were working “flat out”. Helen Dickinson said: “It’s clear that there will be things that need to change for the future as a result of these incidents.”

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson held talks with the industry yesterday and claimed firms were “absolutely determined” to restore confidence in beef products.

The Government said ministers had been cleared of ignoring a warning in 2011 that horse meat was illegally entering the human food chain. Following an investigation by officials, the Environment Department said a warning was sent about the illegal use of horse meat marked unfit for human consumption, but it was acted on at the time. There was no warning about horse being illicitly used in place of beef, it said.